The UK government has committed to investing £21 million in sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) to help aviation achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
In the UK’s national infrastructure strategy, announced alongside chancellor Rishi Sunak’s Spending Review yesterday afternoon, the government said the money would fund a one-year competition to support the development of SAFs, a commercial plant for their production and the establishment of a clearing house to certify new fuels and develop UK expertise.
This work will be overseen by the Jet Zero Council, a partnership between government and industry that was established in June.
Karen Dee, chief executive of the Airport Operators Association, said of the announcement: “Sustainable fuels are an essential part of aviation’s plans to cut aviation net carbon emissions to zero by 2050 alongside helping with air quality, as sustainable fuels have significantly lower particulate emissions.”
She added: “Airspace modernisation will also be a vital part of our sustainable future, as the national infrastructure strategy acknowledges. In particular, it is expected to reduce overall noise impacts for communities around airports.
“We will work further with government on the funding for this vital project to ensure the current difficult financial climate for airports does not cause undue delays to its implementation.”
The news of the UK's investment in SAFs came as IATA members made a resolution at its AGM to “explore pathways to net zero emissions”.
Alexandre de Juniac, IATA director general and CEO, said, “We have long known that an energy transition to SAF is the game-changer. But energy transitions need government support. The cost of SAF is too high and supplies too limited. This crisis is the opportunity to change that. Putting economic stimulus funds behind the development of a large-scale, competitive SAF market would be a triple win – creating jobs, fighting climate change and sustainably connecting the world.”
IATA said that SAF is, on average, between two to four times more expensive than fossil fuels with current global production of about 100 million litres a year, just 0.1 per cent of the total amount of aviation fuel consumed by the industry.
It estimates that stimulus investments could help boost SAF production to the 2 per cent needed “to trigger a potential tipping point to bring SAF to competitive price levels against fossil fuels”.
De Juniac added: “As the world looks to re-boot the economy, let’s not waste this opportunity to create jobs and an industry that will yield huge dividends for the public good. If we can drive SAF prices down as we drive production volumes up, we will be able to sustainably connect the post-Covid-19 world.”
A panel of experts recently highlighted how crucial government support for SAFs would be in achieving the decarbonisation of aviation by 2050 and avoiding caps on the number of flights.